Looking to expand (or start) a collection of Cinderella Books? Here are 19 amazing options to add to your home library!

The Cinderella Books unit I created when I taught first grade was one of my absolute favorites as a teacher.  Did you know that just about every culture in the world has their own Cinderella story? Yes seriously.  From Disney to Denmark.  I loved started with the Disney Cinderella Story they all knew.  We used it as a baseline and then? Read Cinderella Books and Stories from around the world.  It was an amazing way to expose children to new cultures using something they could relate to.  We would spend weeks trying the foods mentioned in the stories, comparing traditional dresses, learning about the types of buildings and it was so much fun!

I may not be teaching in a first grade classroom these days, but I still stand by my belief that Cinderella books are an amazing way to bring more diversity into your home library (which should be a priority for all of us, RIGHT?!?) I wanted to share a few of the books that we are bringing into our own library…….

19 Cinderella Books: Creating a Diverse Library

Shop my favorite Cinderella Books: 

1. The Way Meat Loves Salt: A Cinderella Tale from the Jewish Tradition: In this flavorful Jewish Cinderella tale, Mireleh’s courageous journey takes us through the beautiful country of Poland.
2. The Turkey Girl: A Zuni Cinderella Story : This Zuni tribal tale tells the story of a young girl who longs to attend The Dance of the Scared Bird.
3. Sootface: An Ojibwa Cinderella Story: This Cinderella book shows the beauty of the Ojibwa tribe and tells the story of three daughters from the tribe.
4. Smoky Mountain Rose: An Appalachian Cinderella: I love this take on the classic tale.  This Cinderella story takes place in the Appalachian Mountains and is a total blast to read!
5. Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters:An African Tale : This award winning book is one of my personal favorite Cinderella books.  It tells the story of Mufaro’s three daughters and the king’s search for a wife.
6. Angkat: The Cambodian Cinderella: This book is the first English retelling of an ancient Cambodian story, and shows a heroine who is truly a hero.  It’s a great version!
7. Jouanah: A Hmong Cinderella: This Cinderella book is set in the mountains of Southeast Asia, and tells the classic Cinderella story with some of the most stunning pictures I’ve seen in any book!
8. Anklet for a Princess: A Cinderella Story from India: The Indian story of Cinduri is a vibrant and stunning take on the classic story.  With characters like Godfather Snake, the story has an amazing plot and is really fun to read.
9. Abadeha: The Philippine Cinderella: One of my favorite parts of each Cinderella book is seeing how the “fairy godmother” is portrayed.  And the version in the Philippine story? Is absolutely amazing!
10. Domítíla: A Cinderella Tale from the Mexican Tradition: This story tells the traditional Cinderella story from Mexico and is a stunning view into Mexican culture (Lydia loved seeing the clothes the characters wore).
11. The Golden Sandal: A Middle Eastern Cinderella Story: In this Middle Eastern Cinderella Story, Maha befriends a magical red fish who becomes an integral part of her journey.
12. The Persian Cinderella: This book has vibrant images, and tells the story of Settareh, the Persian Cinderella.
13. The Korean Cinderella: One of my favorite parts of this book? Korean words and elements of the language are integrated throughout the story.  It’s great way to introduce Korean culture!
14. The Egyptian Cinderella: In this version of a Cinderella Book, Cinderella is named Rhodopis! She is a slave, from the far-off country of Greece who receives a special pair of red shoes.
15. Cendrillon: A Caribbean Cinderella: This Caribbean version of the story is adapted from a traditional Creole folktale and is absolutely stunningly written.

16. Adelita: A Mexican Cinderella Story:  This story is written and illustrated by Tomie dePaola (the same author and illustrator who created the Strega Nona books) and does a wonderful job of paying homage to Mexican folk art.

17. The Rough-Face Girl: This beautiful version of the classic Cinderella story is from Algonquin folklore, and is absolutely a must read
18. Yeh-Shen: A Cinderella Story from China: The art in this version is absolutely stunning, and I love the authentic portrayal of a Chinese folk tale.
19. Walt Disney’s Cinderella: If you don’t own this one, it’s a great one to start with for comparison!!!

So what do you think, will you be adding some Cinderella books to your library?!?